Looking for a lasting rug? Always use your head

Saturday

Apr 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2013 at 9:28 AM

Is this rug worth cleaning? If it is wall-to-wall, hire a professional in-home carpet cleaner. But for cotton, silk, wool, Afghan, Berber, Chinese, Navajo, Turkish or other woven rugs, the answer can often be found on the blog Rug Chick.

Is this rug worth cleaning? If it is wall-to-wall, hire a professional in-home carpet cleaner. But for cotton, silk, wool, Afghan, Berber, Chinese, Navajo, Turkish or other woven rugs, the answer can often be found on the blog Rug Chick.

Lisa Wagner, known as the Rug Chick, is a co-owner with her mother of K. Blatchfordís San Diego Rug Cleaning.

She shared some thoughts in an interview.

Q: Oriental-style rugs are sold everywhere. How do you know itís a good rug?

A: If you can see the same design on the back as on the front, thatís woven. Buy that, not tufted. Wool is the best ó practically indestructible and sustainable. Hand-woven is the most valuable. Itís a piece of the weaverís soul. But Karastan does very good machine-woven rugs.

On the other hand, if you see a canvas or burlap material on the back, thatís a tufted rug. They're typically made in India and China, where they use a lot of glue and sometimes bad latex. It looks like a pile rug but might last only five or 10 years. Woven wool rugs last centuries.

Q: What is artificial silk or ďart silkĒ?

A: I had a decorator come in with a rug and say, ďItís a wool and silk rug.Ē I had to say, ďItís a wool and viscose rug.Ē It was labeled ďman-made silk.Ē

Viscose rayon is weak. It yellows, doesnít hold colors. It sheds. If you buy a room-size silk rug and itís under $1,000, it might not be real silk.

Q: Can you vacuum too much?

A: Sweep a wool rug with a carpet sweeper. When you vacuum, once every week or two, use a canister vacuum and set the beater bar high. Vacuum from side to side so you donít grab the fringe. Once a year, vacuum the back to get embedded dirt out that causes fiber wear. Then vacuum the top again.

Q: You say rugs should be washed every two to three years. Why?

A: Even if a rug doesnít look dirty, it slowly gets duller and the fringe starts to look bad. If you wait, dust ó especially silica ó sinks down. Whether the base is cotton or wool, when itís walked on, those pieces saw away at the fiber. Thatís what makes a rug go bare, not foot traffic.

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